Millennium

I don't know how affected England has been by the whole Millennium saga phenomenon but I can say that Belgium was pretty touched haha. The trilogy by Stieg Larsson was a huge blast back there and I remember everyone reading the books. I too read them. And loved them. Because, there is no other possibility than loving these amazingly well written books !!! I had never heard of Stieg Larsson until Millennium showed up in our bookshops. I did a little research on him and see him as pretty much who I would like the become. Writing about politics, economics and denunciating the corruption of the system. He was bold and wasn't afraid of what the people he wrote about could do to him.

So, as I said, I read his books and absolutely loved the story, the characters and the style. His writing is very detailed yet not pompous or hard to focus on. I mean, I am currently trying to read my way through Bleak House, and as much as I respect Dickens, my god is he impossible to read or what ?! Interesting story-line (I've been doing research on the law case) but so full of tiny details that make it impossible for me to focus on the main plot. Well, the books were such a success (and if you haven't read them, I strongly advise you to do so. It'll take you a week, maybe a little more, but you will not feel disappointed) that they made films out of them. I have seen the first one (which I even have in DVD, I like it so much) and recently went to see the second one at the cinema.

Now, you have to be aware that the films are swedish (actually it's a swedish, german and danish collaboration) and therefor have a very different feel from a big budget american film. Hollywood has expressed interest in buying the rights to do their own version, so keep your eyes open if that interests you. If you do get the chance to see the swedish films though, again, I recommend you watch them. I personally like scandinavian films. I haven't seen many but would like to see more. The style, the filming techniques, the atmosphere is just so ... different from what is on the market these days. It is like a breeze of fresh air in a stuffy room full of meaningless films. Don't get me wrong, some films that come out are good, and I do enjoy, once in a while, a good comedy but it's nice to have a change of pace. And Millennium is exactly that, a change of pace. It is a longer, I would say nearly slower film. The actors, who are amazing in my opinion, are very subtle in their roles and the overall atmosphere is exactly what I pictured when reading the books. It is also very daring. Indeed, in both films, Noomi Rapace (who plays Lisbeth, the heroine of the story) is naked and has to play pretty crude scenes. These scenes are not approached like Hollywood would approach them, they are crude and real. That's a good way of resuming the atmosphere of the films, very real. It doesn't feel like these people are living in another world. They are not what you would call beautiful, but yet they are. They are beautiful because they are real. They don't look plastic or retouched from everywhere.

The critics, for the second film, were quite bad in Belgium. I remember reading one that said the film was too slow and the main actor spineless. But when you have read the book, you know that the character he portrays is having a mid-life crisis and is pretty slow. You just have to bear in mind that you are not watching one of these mega budget hollywood dramas but a film that, if I may say, has a soul. And frankly, to me, the actor was very good and played his role to perfection.

So, what you should have noted from this post are these two pieces of advice : get a hand on those books and go see the films if you would like to experience something different from Avatar and god knows what else.